‘Lost Coast’ residents take stock of quake damage following 6.4 Humboldt County shaker

By WILSON WALKER

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    HUMBOLDT COUNTY, California (KPIX) — Humboldt County residents spent the day assessing the damage to their homes and businesses after yet another earthquake in a region where quakes are common.

Tuesday’s 6.4 magnitude earthquake off the coast near Ferndale came exactly one year after a 6.2 magnitude quake struck about 12 miles away.

“The displays, all of the sunglasses are broken,” said Carolyn Knowles as she checked in on a friend’s boutique on Ferndale’s Main Street.

In the picturesque town on the edge of the Lost Coast, the quake wasn’t far away, but for such a strong shake the effects were not what some expected.

“Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any structural damage,” Knowles said.

“Living the good life here,” said Merritt Brodt, owner of The Farmer’s Daughter just down the street. “But you have to take these bumps along the coast.”

Brodt was cleaning up her store for the second time in a year.

“Glassware, dishes,” she said of the items being thrown out.

Like many others here she was drawing comparisons.

“Wasn’t as bad as last year,” Brodt said. ‘Last year this fridge fell over, all the milk and everything spilled out.

“Oh man, this year I felt harder,” said Cameron Renner. “Felt like a bigger quick. It felt like it lasted longer. But the damage was a little bit less.”

Renner was one of those trying to figure why there wasn’t more to clean up.

“Some earthquakes, it will throw it right off the shelf,” he observed. “On others, and it will just kind of sit on the shelf.

For him, this was almost a pleasant surprise.

“I was expecting it to be way worse than it was,” he said. “Much much worse.”

“I had the community members request that I come down and take pictures and some videos of the bridge,” explained drone pilot Brandon Rice. “I’ve lived here my entire life.”

Rice was inspecting the big lingering concern for this region and that’s Fernbridge, the critical link to the communities on this side of the Eel River, the most remote portion of the California coast.

“It would be devastating,” Rice said. “It would be devastating for our community, it really would. It’s how we get most of our commodities in and out. There’s a couple of other ways, but they call it the Lost Coast for a reason.”

“It was a really strange shake,” explained Kenny Ransbottom of nearby Rio Dell. “It kind of started, got deeper, it was almost like something shifting gears, going through about three gears. Just didn’t seem like it was going to stop. But she did, finally.”

Hours after the shaking had stopped and the cleanup at the Napa Auto Parts was just getting started.

“We can’t even reach back to assess it yet,” Ransbottom said of the mess. “I’ll wait till I’ve got help.”

He thinks it will take about a week, even with help on the way from Sacramento. Has he ever experienced a quake like this one?

“92, yes,” he answered.

“So it just kind of shifted everything off of its cinder blocks,” Dusty Titus said, pointing at his home. “And it dropped the front of my trailer down on the ground here.”

Titus says the direction of the quake seemed to line up perfectly with his home, sending it toppling off its base. And he wasn’t alone, people were inspecting failed foundations in every direction.

“I want to check the gas line right here and make sure that it’s not broken,” he said. “My sewer line back here got disconnected in a couple of spots

“It was shaking very badly,” recalled Khruan Shazad. “I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life.

Across the area, the day was spent cleaning up and tallying losses. Shazad says he lost tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise in his liquor store.

“A lot of bottles were broken,” he said. “A lot of my bongs. A lot of soda and everything mixed up.”

Even for an area that has seen a lot of shaking, locals say this was a landmark event.

“Oh, I’m so used to earthquakes,” Ransbottom laughed. “Actually, when it started, I thought, oh damn, another earthquake. But this one was just another earthquake.”

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